Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) Short Interest Up 9.7% in January

Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,360,000 shares, an increase of 9.7% from the January 15th total of 1,240,000 shares. Approximately 2.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 534,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Ingredion Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE INGR opened at $126.70 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.26 billion, a PE ratio of 13.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $135.29 and a 200-day moving average of $136.50. Ingredion has a 52-week low of $109.51 and a 52-week high of $155.44.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.54 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. Ingredion had a return on equity of 18.62% and a net margin of 8.71%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.65 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Ingredion will post 11.14 EPS for the current year.

Ingredion Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.53%. Ingredion’s payout ratio is 32.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Ingredion from $145.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on Ingredion from $178.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com lowered Ingredion from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Ingredion from $147.00 to $133.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Stephens reduced their target price on Ingredion from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $158.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ingredion

In related news, CFO James D. Gray sold 54,869 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.76, for a total value of $8,052,574.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 12,795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,877,794.20. The trade was a 81.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ingredion

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of INGR. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 4,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $572,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Ingredion by 32.4% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Mindset Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ingredion by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Mindset Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $538,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Ingredion by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 2,303 shares of the company’s stock worth $317,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Ingredion by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $216,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ingredion

Ingredion Incorporated, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells sweeteners, starches, nutrition ingredients, and biomaterial solutions derived from wet milling and processing corn, and other starch-based materials to a range of industries in North America, South America, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.